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I want to say that one can attack or slice a problem from different angles. Vaguely I recall that there is some German or English saying for this and I am not sure how exactly it goes.

I'd prefer one with the word “slice” or other synonym for dividing. I want to write about an approach to a large problem and in the introduction state that there are different ways to slice it into pieces and the slicing I chose also has certain disadvantages.

Does something like this exist in English or am I just thinking of a German one?

Martin Ueding
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  • Divide and rule: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/it/dizionario/inglese/divide-and-rule – user 66974 Apr 14 '20 at 07:08
  • https://english.stackexchange.com/a/91916 – Jim Apr 14 '20 at 14:19
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    It's worth mentioning that "dividing a problem into pieces" is different from "approaching it from different angles". Someone looking to create a complex machine might subdivide it to work on different parts separately, or they might look at different ways of having the machine work. Those aren't the same thing. – DJClayworth Apr 14 '20 at 15:01
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    "There's more than one way to skin a cat." - Not posting as an answer because I'm not sure if you mean that the problem you're writing about will be solved using one of several possible ways (in which case the saying does apply) or in multiple ways simultaneously (in which case I don't think it applies). – nnnnnn Apr 14 '20 at 15:52
  • 'Come at something from different angles' is a commonly used metaphorical expression. – Edwin Ashworth Sep 11 '20 at 14:36

3 Answers3

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There is more than one way to skin a cat.

has the general meaning that there are multiple ways of doing something.

Mitch
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You could use the term "multi-faceted approach" (ngram).

Here is a definition of "multi-faceted" (also "multifaceted").

OALD having many different aspects to be considered

LPH
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Divide and Conquer

This has the sense of a slice:

to make a group of people disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together against one Merriam-Webster

the algorithm of the same name

A divide-and-conquer algorithm works by recursively breaking down a problem into two or more sub-problems of the same or related type, until these become simple enough to be solved directly. Wikipedia

rajah9
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